Glory? I I luring the brief obituary reading in German by Preacher I-It, Mary Ruth considered the idea of wearing her black
i; ling garment for a full year, as if she were Elias's widow-
jL.li, She knew Mamma would not approve, but at this Luucnt of determined loyalty to her beau, she didn't rightly Ire what anyone thought. ; '/'/
While the coffin was being moved outside so the People iiHild view the body, Leah noticed Dr. Schwartz and his wife, ..imine, walking toward their car. It seemed they were I. H, cly able to put one foot in front of the other, so down[ i. -1' Ion they and their son Robert looked. She had recognized
11u.i from seeing his pictures several places in the Schwartz L,. r.o, as well as on the wall of the clinic waiting room.
Watching them cross the yard together, arm in arm, she
iiHiUI view
109
< < i ; i I I I I! >!
110
>ly J2e
felt a deep measure of sympathy and wondered if Dr. Schwartz would say something to her about this awful sad day come Friday, when she was scheduled to do some cleaning at the clinic. She wouldn't be so rude as to bring up the topic of Elias's death herself. Still, she wondered how the Schwartz family would manage to cope.
When she turned back toward the house, she noticed Mary Ruth hovering near the coffin, now situated on the front porch for the final viewing before burial. She wondered if her sister was out of her mind with grief, as sometimes hap' pened to couples if one or the other was taken early. Then she knew for sure Mary Ruth was suffering unspeakably, for her sister leaned down and touched Elias's face her last
chance to see him ever so close. But when she bent lower and
kissed him, Leah cried. She's saying farewell, she thought, wishing she, too, might have had that opportunity, though keenly aware how tragically different a situation this was.
Later, in the Graabhof, her father stood next to Smithy Peachey, black felt hat in his rough hands, as they glanced now and then at the coffin-shaped hole in the earth. Small grave markers were scattered here and there in unpredictable rows within a makeshift fence. For a moment the wire barrier
made her feel captive to the People, and she thought of Sadie and her endless shunning.
Leah's gaze drifted to the brethren the ministers and grown men, farmers all who set forth the unwritten guidelines for living. The Ordnung rules our very lives, she thought, missing her elder sister anew. The faces of the men looked pale in spite of their ruddy, sunburned complexions, she noticed, and women and girls dabbed handkerchiefs at their
111CDacrifice
m$*, I'rying not to call attention to themselves. Yet how could R y Htcip their tears when the deacon's red-haired young Bh- once spirited and smiling lay lifeless in a simple wal- . kll box?
1 Four pallbearers used shovels to fill the grave once the cofm hud been lowered into the previously dug tomb by the use If It nig straps. Deacon Stoltzfus stood near his remaining sons,
11' ii jaws clenched, lower lips quivering uncontrollably; Ezra, |.|" ially, looked ashen faced. Elias's mother, grandmothers, In i is, and many sisters clustered together, some of them holdK|4 hands and crying, but none of them wept aloud. It was Lit the People's way to wail and mourn conspicuously, and Huh was glad for that. The sadness she felt for these dear fees spilled over into her own spirit, and she hung her head If in prayer.
I Once the grave was nearly filled, the pallbearers ceased Kclr shoveling and Preacher Yoder stood tall and read a lymn from the Ausbund. The People did not sing on this post sobering occasion, and every man and boy in attendance moved his blacky hat.
I Leah could scarcely wait for the sunset, hours from now,
I!
knt would bring an end to this heart-wrenching day. The prettlling gloom triggered the familiar helpless feeling she had Iften wrestled with in the black of night as she lay quiet as leut'h itself, wishing for sleep to come and rescue her from her liemories of
i; ling garment for a full year, as if she were Elias's widow-
jL.li, She knew Mamma would not approve, but at this Luucnt of determined loyalty to her beau, she didn't rightly Ire what anyone thought. ; '/'/
While the coffin was being moved outside so the People iiHild view the body, Leah noticed Dr. Schwartz and his wife, ..imine, walking toward their car. It seemed they were I. H, cly able to put one foot in front of the other, so down[ i. -1' Ion they and their son Robert looked. She had recognized
11u.i from seeing his pictures several places in the Schwartz L,. r.o, as well as on the wall of the clinic waiting room.
Watching them cross the yard together, arm in arm, she
iiHiUI view
109
< < i ; i I I I I! >!
110
>ly J2e
felt a deep measure of sympathy and wondered if Dr. Schwartz would say something to her about this awful sad day come Friday, when she was scheduled to do some cleaning at the clinic. She wouldn't be so rude as to bring up the topic of Elias's death herself. Still, she wondered how the Schwartz family would manage to cope.
When she turned back toward the house, she noticed Mary Ruth hovering near the coffin, now situated on the front porch for the final viewing before burial. She wondered if her sister was out of her mind with grief, as sometimes hap' pened to couples if one or the other was taken early. Then she knew for sure Mary Ruth was suffering unspeakably, for her sister leaned down and touched Elias's face her last
chance to see him ever so close. But when she bent lower and
kissed him, Leah cried. She's saying farewell, she thought, wishing she, too, might have had that opportunity, though keenly aware how tragically different a situation this was.
Later, in the Graabhof, her father stood next to Smithy Peachey, black felt hat in his rough hands, as they glanced now and then at the coffin-shaped hole in the earth. Small grave markers were scattered here and there in unpredictable rows within a makeshift fence. For a moment the wire barrier
made her feel captive to the People, and she thought of Sadie and her endless shunning.
Leah's gaze drifted to the brethren the ministers and grown men, farmers all who set forth the unwritten guidelines for living. The Ordnung rules our very lives, she thought, missing her elder sister anew. The faces of the men looked pale in spite of their ruddy, sunburned complexions, she noticed, and women and girls dabbed handkerchiefs at their
111CDacrifice
m$*, I'rying not to call attention to themselves. Yet how could R y Htcip their tears when the deacon's red-haired young Bh- once spirited and smiling lay lifeless in a simple wal- . kll box?
1 Four pallbearers used shovels to fill the grave once the cofm hud been lowered into the previously dug tomb by the use If It nig straps. Deacon Stoltzfus stood near his remaining sons,
11' ii jaws clenched, lower lips quivering uncontrollably; Ezra, |.|" ially, looked ashen faced. Elias's mother, grandmothers, In i is, and many sisters clustered together, some of them holdK|4 hands and crying, but none of them wept aloud. It was Lit the People's way to wail and mourn conspicuously, and Huh was glad for that. The sadness she felt for these dear fees spilled over into her own spirit, and she hung her head If in prayer.
I Once the grave was nearly filled, the pallbearers ceased Kclr shoveling and Preacher Yoder stood tall and read a lymn from the Ausbund. The People did not sing on this post sobering occasion, and every man and boy in attendance moved his blacky hat.
I Leah could scarcely wait for the sunset, hours from now,
I!
knt would bring an end to this heart-wrenching day. The prettlling gloom triggered the familiar helpless feeling she had Iften wrestled with in the black of night as she lay quiet as leut'h itself, wishing for sleep to come and rescue her from her liemories of
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